It's fair to say McKinnie won this battle. Aldon Smith
wasn't a big factor with his pass rush and stayed stuck at 19.5 sacks. It led
the NFL but he's been shut out for the past six games. Justin Smith alternated
with Ricky Jean-Francois and also was not a factor.

The matchup didn't happen on every down. Ahmad Brooks
switched sides with Smith occasionally and sometimes the Ravens used tight ends
Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson to block Aldon Smith.

A good pass rush isn't all about sacks, it's about
consistent pressure to affect the quarterback and make him move, look away from
his receivers or pull the ball down and scramble. Most of the game Flacco was
unimpeded.

On Flacco's 56-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones, McKinnie
swallowed up Smith and Flacco drifted to the right until Jones got open behind
the 49er secondary.

Smith did get close on teammate Ray McDonald's sack of
Flacco. He went outside then back inside to get around McKinnie and got there
just as Flacco went down. Justin Smith had three tackles and Aldon Smith two.

Baltimore WR Anquan
Boldin vs. San Francisco CB Tarell Brown

Baltimore didn't do much business on Brown's side with
anybody. Flacco spent much of the game torching Chris Culliver and Carlos
Rogers with Boldin paying a big part. He caught six passes for 104 yards and a
touchdown.

Boldin literally shoved it in Culliver's face on a huge 30-yard
completion. The Ravens executed a pick play to get Boldin some space and Boldin
stiff-armed him. He also beat Culliver on a play in the second quarter that
looked like Flacco was throwing the ball away. Boldin just outjumped Culliver for
the ball and did the same to Rogers on a key third-and-2 play in the fourth
quarter to help set up a field goal.

Two throws in the first half to Boldin against Brown netted
nothing, one a slant that Boldin dropped and another a go pattern on which
Boldin was well-covered. Flacco either threw the ball away, or thought Boldin
would break off the pattern.

Brown had a solid game and did make a big play on Ray Rice
after a short pass. He poked the ball out of his hands and recovered the
fumble, which set up a San Francisco field goal.

San Francisco TE
Vernon Davis vs. Baltimore safety Ed Reed

Davis had a big night receiving but it wasn't Ed Reed's
fault. He was matched up on the Baltimore linebackers and the other Baltimore
safety, Bernard Pollard. None could handle him as he caught six passes for 108
yards. The Ravens were able to muffle him in the red zone. San Francisco had to
settle for three field goals and then couldn't push the ball into the end zone
despite a first-and-goal at the 8 to win the game.

Reed celebrated a return to his home state with an
interception, his 62nd career pick, and five tackles despite getting
shaken up and leaving the game in the first quarter.

"It was hard-fought game," Reed said. "It's hard to enjoy that when you're playing a a game like that against a great team. San Francisco played their hearts out."

Kaepernick didn't utilize the option keeper like he did
against Green Bay but he did execute the dive plays well with success. It was
obvious the outside linebackers played a contain strategy and took some free
shots at Kaepernick after he handed off.

Suggs gave Kaepernick plenty of room on a first-quarter
incompletion. On the next play Kruger came hard from Kaepernick's right for a
sack to stall the 49ers' second possession and force a field goal

Kaepernick did a good job of keeping the ball in Gore's
belly a couple of times. It paid off on a 33-yard gainer by Gore to set up the
49ers last stab at victory. Suggs closed on the play and Kaepernick let go of
the ball at the last second ads Suggs ran by, taking himself out of the
play.